The Cold Road

Winter came very quickly in the cycle of 1371. It was so early that the frost had frozen the soil before the trees had shed half of their golden leaves. Naturally, the harvest suffered greatly that season.

Many regions of Mornea faced very poor yields and the early snows cut off many roads and limited the ability of villages to exchange goods with their neighbors.
The harsh weather and deprivation divided the people of Mornea into two groups: those living in the large cities and those living in small towns and villages.
No one is left unaffected and the Season of Orhöm is going to be a difficult one.

To face these challenges, many villages have sent negotiators to the biggest cities to beg, barter or buy the supplies that have become scare in the rural areas.
Since the abrupt end of autumn, the cities have become vast markets where some products are sold at incredibly high prices. Normally common goods like wheat have become as expensive as alchemical stones, and many negotiators will not hesitate to trade the fabled stones for the wheat to feed their villages.
Of course, with this amount of commerce and the inflated prices, travelling to and from the markets has become… risky.
Which in turn has led to an increase in another business: many caravan masters seek armed guards to accompany them, at a reasonable price of course.

The winter will be hard on Mornea this cycle, as will the skirmishes.

For reasons of your own, your group has decided to escort a caravan. The road is long and the countryside hostile. After a few days travel, you began having serious difficulty making progress; the caravan was constantly becoming mired in the mix of snow and mud. So you decided to finish on foot, carrying as many of your commodities as you could.
Suddenly you notice another caravan, suffering the same immobility as you had.
The commodities they carry would be more valuable than alchemical stones to the inhabitants of the village you are going to…
So you decide to take the caravan and goods of your new enemies.

Setting up the Battlefield

1) This scenario is intended to be played on a table 48” x36”.

2) The players then place 2 Cards in their zone. Each card must be 5 inches from the median line and at 13 inches from the table borders.

3) The players must place at least 8 scenery elements, according to the following rules:
- Scenery cannot be placed less than 3 inches from any table edge scenery or card.
- The players place the scenery items alternatively. Randomly determine who begins.

4) The players then define the gaming areas:
The table is split in two, widthwise.

5) The players then place their components tokens, according to the following rules:
- The tokens must be placed on scenery, at least 5 inches from any other component..
- The players place 2 tokens on their table half, at least 5 inches from the median line and 2 in their opponent’s side. The players place the tokens alternatively, starting with the one that did not choose the table site.

Deployment

The players must split their warband in two groups of about the same number of miniatures. The players will deploy the group one after the other.
If a player has miniatures with the Stealthy skill, he can choose to add them to a group or deploy them separately using their skill.
Each player deploys his first group, starting with the player that has the most miniatures. This group must be deployed in contact with the caravan of his side, but further than 5 inches from the median line. The players alternate deploying one miniature at a time.
The players then deploy their second group starting with the group that has more miniatures. This group must be deployed at least 10 inches from the caravans in the player's deployement area and at least 5 inches from the median line. The players alternate deploying one miniature at a time.
Finally the players deploy the miniatures with the stealthy skill that were not included in a group. These can be deployed anywhere, at least 5 inches from the median line.

Victory Conditions

At the end of each turn, Victory points are accumulated as follows:
- 1 VP for a miniature that leaves the table with goods.
- 3 VP for a miniature that leaves the table with goods belonging to the opponent.
A player wins the game if he has 9 VPs or more at the end of any turn.

If no player gets 9 VPs before the end of the game, or if both players reach 9 VP during the same turn, of if one player’s warband has no living miniatures on the table, then the game is a draw.
It is not possible draw the game because your last miniature left the battlefield with goods.
The maximum number of victory points that can be gained is 11.

Special Rules

The caravans:
These are size 3 scenery elements.

The goods:
A miniature in contact with a friendly or enemy caravan can grab goods for 1 AP.
A miniature can only carry one token's worth of goods at a time.
A miniature whose health status goes from wounded to critically wounded or who is killed immediately drops the goods. A token is placed in base contact by the player of the miniature to represent the goods that were carried.
Goods on the ground can be picked up for free by any miniature.

Fleeing with goods:
A miniature with goods can leave the table by any of the lateral borders (those not touched by the median line).